Politics & Government
Dam Removal Update: Cuyahoga Falls Sued Over Bidding Dispute
The Beaver Excavating Company has filed a lawsuit against the city, saying its lower bid wasn't given the proper consideration.
It appears the dam removal project may have hit some rough waters.
The Beaver Excavating Company, which was one of the six bidders vying for the dam removal contract, has filed a lawsuit against Cuyahoga Falls, according to www.ohio.com.
Matt Sterling, Beaver Excavation's contract administrator, told Patch in a phone interview last Friday that the "City of Cuyahoga Falls did not have the authority to release this as a design-build project, and the (Ohio Revised Code, Section 153.65) they're relying on does not go into effect until June.
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Legally, they shouldn’t be selling a design-build and they should be rebidding it as a design-bid-build project.”
Design-builds are projects in which the design and construction are contracted out by a single company. In this case, the company is RiverReach Construction, which will oversee the removal of the LeFever and Sheraton Dams and the environmental restoration of the Cuyahoga River.
Find out what's happening in Cuyahoga Fallswith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Under design-bid-build, the city would contract with separate entities for the design and the construction of a project.
RiverReach's price tag is $1 million, which will be paid for by the Northeast Ohio Sewer District, and Beaver Excavation's was $489,000. However, it's not immediately clear what services were offered under Beaver's six-figure bid and how it compared against RiverReach.
Sterling had planned on publicly addressing the City Council before it made its final decision on which company to award the contract to, but he didn't have the opportunity this past Monday night at the council's regular meeting.
Prior to the City Council voting unanimously for RiverReach, council member Jerry James said "...as far as we're concerned, everything has been taken care of and handled properly and has been dispensed with when it comes to the bidding, so there will be no comments or anything from the public tonight..."
Summit County Common Pleas Court Judge Paul Gallagher will oversee the case.
Deconstruction of the LeFever and Sheraton Dams is set for June with a completion date of mid to late July, said city engineer Tony Demasi.
Once they come down, city officials expect up to category 4 or 5 white water rapids for experienced kayakers .
To get the background on the dam removal project, read on:
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